The physical line of flotsam is not the legal "mean high tide line". "In most states, all land below the mean high tide line belongs to the state and citizens

The physical line of flotsam is not the legal "mean high tide line". "In most states, all land below the mean high tide line belongs to the state and citizens have the right to unrestricted access to that land. Intuition would indicate that this “line” is where the sand changes from wet to dry during high tide. This, however, is not always the case. The mean high tide line is actually the arithmetic average of high-water heights observed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over an 18.6-year Metonic cycle. It is the line that is formed by the intersection of the tidal plane of the mean high tide with the shore. It is not an easy line to determine, and it is an even harder one to see. From standing on the beach watching the waves, there is no way of knowing exactly where the mean high tide line falls, or where public land begins and ends, making enforcement a difficult and controversial task. " http://www.beachapedia.org/Beach_Access http://www.beachapedia.org/Beach_Access (From Surfrider, a party to the lawsuits)